A $200 privacy device has been killed, and no one knows why

A security researcher has abruptly cancelled next month's scheduled unveiling of a privacy device designed to mask Internet users' physical locations. It's a move that has both disappointed privacy advocates and aroused suspicions.

Ben Caudill, a researcher with Rhino Security Labs, took the unusual step of saying he no longer plans to release the software or hardware schematics for his so-called ProxyHam box. He said the devices already created have been destroyed. Caudill has offered no explanation for the killing of the project, but he has reportedly ruled out both intellectual property disputes and Federal Communications Commission licensing concerns.

A $200 privacy device has been killed, and no one knows why

So Ben Caudill strung us along for several months about creating and making available a device that can hide your IP and your identity. Now all of a sudden, he has withdrawn his project. Here's an excerpt for this:

"Caudill has offered no explanation for the killing of the project, but he has reportedly ruled out both intellectual property disputes and Federal Communications Commission licensing concerns."

Well that is interesting while you drink your coffee. I think he was visited by the alphabet agencies. This "product" would hinder NSA's Carnivore program and anything that was developed after that.
Or it was all a ruse to waste VC money?
Read the whole article here my friends:

a reply to: Kratos40

Honestly, the first thing that came to mind was good because now child/human traffickers and child porn peddlers will have one less thing to hide behind.

a reply to: Kratos40 I don;t see anything in your quote box but *. I refreshed twice. Were we visited?

There it is, had to refresh 3x.

a reply to: Kratos40 If there was government intervention, It is not surprise. Also, the idea of removing a tool from criminals has never trumped removing a tool from law abiding citizens protecting themselves from an overly intrusive government.

REALLY? Becuz the children? Come on.

a reply to: MonkeyFishFrog

I never thought about that aspect. It could be true, but to know how corrupt the American government is (or any foreign govnmt). There is something else to this.

If I were to make a guess, I'd say that they realized that there just wasn't a market for it.

The ProxyHam device was able to mask the location of an Internet user by broadcasting on a 900MHz radio frequency so the owner could connect from up to 2.5 miles away from the source of the Internet connection. As a result, even if someone tracked down the location of an IP address, the user wouldn't automatically be discovered. The box was billed as using open-source software and requiring less than $200 in hardware.

There are already ways of doing the exact same thing, for those who want to, and for much less than $200.

Edit: I suspect there may have been issues with the FCC as well, as many municipal systems operate at 900MHz, including traffic lights. That could cause some serious issues.

originally posted by: reldra
a reply to: Kratos40 If there was government intervention, It is not surprise. Also, the idea of removing a tool from criminals has never trumped removing a tool from law abiding citizens protecting themselves from an overly intrusive government.

REALLY? Becuz the children? Come on.

Well there you go. Just like the way of assault rifles. There is/has been legislation to limit or ban on assault weapons. Same idea here, IF,and and a BIG IF, this guy found a way to make us all anonymous.......temporarily.

a reply to: Kratos40

Don't get me wrong, I would love to see Anonymous get a hold of some for their Hacktivism but even Anonymous couldn't guarantee that one or two members wouldn't use it for "lulz" or slightly more nefarious purposes. I think the risk of abuse outweighs the good in this case.

originally posted by: admirethedistance
If I were to make a guess, I'd say that they realized that there just wasn't a market for it.

The ProxyHam device was able to mask the location of an Internet user by broadcasting on a 900MHz radio frequency so the owner could connect from up to 2.5 miles away from the source of the Internet connection. As a result, even if someone tracked down the location of an IP address, the user wouldn't automatically be discovered. The box was billed as using open-source software and requiring less than $200 in hardware.

There are already ways of doing the exact same thing, for those who want to, and for much less than $200.

Edit: I suspect there may have been issues with the FCC as well, as many municipal systems operate at 900MHz, including traffic lights. That could cause some serious issues.

That it is true. But as a smart businessman you would still sell it to the uninitiated. Those of us who know better, do better. Or something like that.

a reply to: admirethedistance

It's not that they didn't have a market for it. First of all he was going to sell the source code and everything at cost at the Hacker convention that was coming up. So it wasn't the money he was after anyway. Second of all, he's obviously been silenced by someone with a gag order or something. Otherwise he would just say that it's not worth bothering with.

He can say who it wasn't but not who it was that has silenced him and he's offering no clues either. My guess is it's law enforcement. Think about it. If they tracked someone who was using one, they'd be kicking in a whole lot of wrong doors within a 2.5 mile radius. That's a good distance and they'd never find you in the middle of a city. Plus, they would most likely be kicking in the doors of Businesses which the device is using. That's some serious lawsuits they'd have to battle.

Instead of making a big deal about it he should have just released all the info on the internet from the start of it then it would be out there and they couldn't do anything about it. If someone wanted to build one, they could. They still can now of course but they'll have to figure out the hardware and software on their own from scratch now.

originally posted by: mOjOm
a reply to: admirethedistance
Second of all, he's obviously been silenced by someone with a gag order or something. Otherwise he would just say that it's not worth bothering with.

For me i is obvious he has nothing in the first place & was stringing people along for the lol's, for the fame, for the notoriety.

So no, he's NOT "obviously been silenced" at all - because if he had nothing he would also not say anything.

Let me do you guys a favor and clue you into directional antennas. You can even make very very cheap versions out of a Pringles can. I had a friend who tested one with his PSP that was rooted and had custom firmware which was very heavily modified (all at home right style for dirt cheap). If I remember right he used the connector from a belkan router antenna which happened to have the same connector as the internal antenna in the PSP. Dremal out a hole to plug it in mount your antenna and scan for WiFi. You can use some easy to find software to crack wep encryption on other people's routers and jump on their WiFi. Volia there you have it anonymous internet. Also he was able to intercept packets and do things like read your emails. Pretty sure you can scale that up if you have the money and reach some pretty good distances. Just a little tib bit for those saddened by this loss of tech.

originally posted by: Aloysius the Gaul

For me i is obvious he has nothing in the first place & was stringing people along for the lol's, for the fame, for the notoriety.

So no, he's NOT "obviously been silenced" at all - because if he had nothing he would also not say anything.

Yah, I doubt it. It's not like what he made was very difficult. All it did was put the last hop of a hijacked internet connection between you and the net using radio. The tech isn't all that difficult and it's been reported on already.

See here: wired.com: Online Anonymity Project ProxyHam Mysteriously Vanishes

and here: wired.com: This Online Anonymity Box Puts You a Mile Away From Your IP Address

The guy heads a security company and has more than enough resources to make something like this. It's much more likely that Law Enforcement just didn't want something like this out on the loose. Too easy to cause trouble for them.

The ProxyHam device was able to mask the location of an Internet user by broadcasting on a 900MHz radio frequency so the owner could connect from up to 2.5 miles away from the source of the Internet connection.

I might be stupid here but Bla Bla Bla

*********

Realized my mistake. As it turned out. I WAS being stupid.

a reply to: HolgerTheDane2

The device get's on to a network like any other wireless machine. Then it uses radio broadcast over to you somewhere remote with an antenna connected to your machine.

So you put the device close to the actual internet connection like a coffee house or something and you are a mile away.

originally posted by: mOjOm
a reply to: admirethedistance

***snip***
He can say who it wasn't but not who it was that has silenced him and he's offering no clues either. My guess is it's law enforcement. Think about it. If they tracked someone who was using one, they'd be kicking in a whole lot of wrong doors within a 2.5 mile radius. That's a good distance and they'd never find you in the middle of a city. Plus, they would most likely be kicking in the doors of Businesses which the device is using. That's some serious lawsuits they'd have to battle.

In the old days we used triangulation and directional antennas to track down those annoying people who kept disturbing our HAM operations.
It took two cars and a very short time.
Often his/her outdoor antenna mysteriously broke.

The clandestine guy would have to be on the move all the time AND would loose his device often enough.

a reply to: HolgerTheDane2

This is true. They would eventually find you given enough time. That's why he used a range that is the same as many other devices so that even trying to pinpoint it would be a needle in a haystack.

He also talks about a future version that would have a mic on it that would record and transmit the last few seconds of audio before it was disabled and alert the user if it was moved from it's current location. This would tip off the user so they would have time to stop what they're doing and walk away or whatever they had to do.

He said it was really just a last ditch effort for anyone who wanted to send some info without getting caught. Like a whistle blower or whatever. He intended it to be just one of many barriers to help keep you safe long enough to do such things. This is a physical barrier between you and the web.

Yes, you would lose the device once they were on to you. But that's what it's for.

Why would it cost 200 bucks? Sounds like PGP type encryption technology...

a reply to: Xtrozero

Well, if he's selling it at that price at cost then it would have to be the hardware I guess. But it's not for sale now anyway so it's hard to say I guess.

a reply to: Kratos40

There is no such term as "Assault Rifle" it is a 'Boogeyman' term made up by politicians to sway the stupid public's opinion to believe that a different handle or buttock somehow changes one semi-automatic weapon into some vicious militaristic killing machine.

Just because there is the potential for abuse does not mean that it should be controlled and regulated. What's next, jail time for studying Krav Maga?